Tennis

Del Potro to have wrist surgery, miss season - report

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro will undergo a second wrist operation in four years on Monday and miss the rest of the season, Argentine media reported.

Del Potro, who pulled out of the Miami tournament this week, will have surgery on his left wrist which he uses for his backhand, having had an operation on his right wrist in May 2010.

The big Argentine, who won the Sydney tournament in January before a disappointing Australian Open, has dropped down the ranking from world number four to eighth and last played at Dubai nearly a month ago.

The 25-year-old tried to overcome his problem with physiotherapy but has now decided to resort to American surgeon Richard Berger, the wrist specialist who operated on his right wrist in 2010, the daily La Nacion reported on Saturday.

"I have the experience of how the rehabilitation is, the time it takes," La Nacion quoted Del Potro as having said when he pulled out of Indian Wells two weeks ago and foresaw the possibility of surgery.

"This time, a good thing is I won't lose so much time seeking a diagnosis. In 2010, it took me two to three months to find the right diagnosis and the right doctor. This time, luckily, I know."

Del Potro, bronze medal winner at the London Olympic Games in 2012, had been looking forward to a season in which he would attempt to break into the top ranking places and fight for another grand slam title having won the U.S. Open in 2009 before his previous wrist problems.